The Colorado River Basin

Colorado got a good bit of snow this winter, and that has helped build the snowpack in the Colorado River Basin. The most recent monthly study by the Bureau of Reclamation revealed that the snowpack in the Basin reached 130% of its average, which is not only good for Colorado, but for the other six states that take water from the river. Lake Powell and Lake Mead will also benefit from runoff. Lake Mead is projected to rise to 128% of its normal level.

While this is certainly positive news to the 40 million people who use water from the Colorado River, federal officials are far from jubilant; they emphasize that a 20 year drought cannot possibly end after a single wet year. The Colorado River system storage is only at about 45% of full.